From time to time trolls will attack you and / or your company, most likely for no reason whatsoever. Sometimes they’re just in it for ‘fun’, sometimes it’s to be malicious, other times it can be simply because they’re angry. So what should you do when one of these hateful little trolls pops up and decides that you or your company is the bane of their existence and should be treated as though you ripped a puppy from their waif like hands before callously throwing it in front of a steamroller while laughing maniacally twiddling your overly large comedy mustache.

The first step is to identify the hateful little trolls from the real people who have an issue that can be resolved. Usually it’s in the language that they use, and the way that they self-justify everything that they say and do, despite all evidence to the contrary (SMG has a great post detailing the differences between a troll and an upset customer).

Now, there are a few different types of trolls that exist in this online world, and here’s my breakdown of the kinds I’ve seen:

1. The attention seeker - “Look at me, look at me”
2. The instigator - just wanting to provoke a response
3. The righteous indignant - the only opinion that exists is theirs, all must bend to their will
4. The two faced liars - When you communicate with them they claim to have an understanding with you, then revert to their prior troll-like existence once they’re back in public
5. The ‘ethical moralist’ - Communicating with you one on one they are foul mouthed and abusive, back in public they claim to take the moral high ground
6. The multi-faceted troll - Take any combination of the above to create your own hateful little troll

So, what should you do with these hateful little trolls? I expect you’re thinking that I’m going to say that you should just ignore them, and that ’sticks and stones… etcetera, etcetera’, well that is, unfortunately, one of the best ways to deal with these ‘people’, if you don’t feed the trolls they will generally tire and go away to harass their next victim.

But what about the collateral damage? What about the comments and the posts and the reviews, and the people that they may influence? Well, in those cases the best defense is to get your evangelists out there putting out good content about you, giving them the tools and the opportunity to defend you by offsetting those negative reviews with positive ones, the truth will come out, and those lone voices will be seen for what they are, people who don’t deserve attention, or the spotlight turning on them for even a fraction of a second.

So the best way to kill a hateful little troll is with silence while it sits in the dark slowly fading away. Now it may squeal and grunt in a desperate attempt to be noticed, but to do so would give it power, so don’t give in, resist the temptation.